Reflections on Teaching and Learning


Course(s):


Literacy and Technology in the Curriculum- CIED 5483
Advanced Studies of Children’s Literature- CIED 5153

Semester(s):

Summer 2006

Summer 2007

Competencies addressed:


ALA/AASL:
2.0 Teaching and Learning
2.1 Knowledge of learners and learning
2.2 Effective and knowledgeable teacher
2.3 Information literacy curriculum


OKLAHOMA:
1.0 Defines a program of information literacy and integrates it into the curriculum.

2.0 Defines a school library media program emphasizing information problem-solving skills and integrates it into the curriculum.

6.0 Uses resources to support the personal, developmental, and curricular needs of students, and the instructional development needs of the faculty.

7.0 Recognizes the value of new technologies for information and instruction and assists faculty and students in their use.


OSU L.E.A.D.S
3.0 Academics and Professional Roles
3.3 Human growth and development, including special populations
3.5 Technology
3.6 Teaching/Professional practice and assessment


Summary of activities completed:


Outsiders Internet Lesson Plan: For this activity, I created a lesson plan to be done before a reading class reads The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. The primary purpose of this lesson plan is to get students thinking about social groups, cliques, and society—all themes explored in The Outsiders. To complete this activity, students must use Internet tools, such as online quizzes and dictionaries, as well as pre-made worksheets. This lesson implements technology, academics, and teaching and learning skills.

Amish Lesson Plan #1: Justice and Compassion: This lesson is part one of seven lesson that I created with a group to teach students about justice and compassion, as well as the Amish community and population. Within this first lesson, students examine the concept of violence, what it means in our society, and how it is shown throughout their own community. Students examine literary work for violent acts, cultural aspects of violence, and different meanings of the idea of violence.



Explanation of how artifact relates to competencies:


The Outsiders Internet lesson plan relates to ALA/AASL competency 2.0 because it teaches students valuable lessons about society and cliques. It also relates to ALA/AASL competency 2.3 because it teaches students information literacy skills such as how to use reliable Internet sources, and what terms such as diversity, tolerance, prejudice, and respect mean, and why they are important in the students’ lives and as members of society. This lesson also relates to Oklahoma competency 6.0 and 7.0 because it used Internet resources and technologies to support the development of students, teaching them valuable life-long skills and concepts, and assists them in their development of these skills. Finally, this lesson relates to the OSU L.E.A.D.S competency 3.5 because it implements technology through the use of the Internet and computers.

The Amish Lesson Plan #1 relates to ALA/AASL competencies 2.0-2.3 because it teaches students multiple lessons about violence, what violence means, how it relates to their culture and community, how it is viewed and illustrated in media, and how it relates to the students personally in terms of self, community, and society. This lesson relates to Oklahoma competencies 1.0, 6.0, and 7.0 because through this lesson, students access and analyze a variety of print and non-print sources and their correlation to violence, society, and community. Students can then take the information literacy skills that they have been taught through the evaluation of print and non-print sources and use these skills for future decision making moments that deal with violence, either at a personal level or in the community. Finally this lesson relates to OSU L.E.A.D.S competencies 3.3 and 3.5 because this lesson uses various technology sources to teach students vital information literacy skills about violence, the effects of violence in their culture and community, what it means to them personally, and how it effects their growth as humans and as a population. Special emphasis is places on how different societies (populations) relate to violence, and this directly correlates to competency 3.3.





Explanation of how this experience helped you as a professional educator:


The Outsiders Internet Lesson plan helped me as a professional educator because while creating this lesson plan I too had to learn the difference between commonly interexchanged words and concepts such as bias, prejustice, diversity, and racism. Being able to differentiate between these terms is especially important when exploring the themes in The Outsiders. By creating this lesson plan I can better teach my students these terms and concepts and how they relate to the themes in The Outsiders.


The Amish Lesson Plan helped me as a professional educator because it required me to examine my students and the community in a fresh way. Thinking about the concepts of violence and how they relate to the community helped me to examine the ways that violence are illustrated to my students on an everyday basis, thus allowing me a more sensitive perspective into my students' lives.






Explanation of what you would change if you were to create/use this artifact again?

If I were to create the Outsiders Internet lesson plan again I would conduct more in-depth reasearch and find better Internet quizzes for students to use to examine the concepts of gangs and cliques. Some of the quizzes that I originally used for this lesson plan were on a website that does not have school appropriate materials. Instead of allowing students access to this entire site, I would probably create an alternate site (such as on wikispaces) that students could access.

If I were to use the Amish artifact again, I would have students start the assignment by reading a children's picture book and do a mini-lit circle session about violence so that they can be in the "mood" for such an extensive topic. I like the Amish lesson plan, and the unit that it is apart of, but I think it needs an introduction activity too.